Coupler operating rod bracket



Aug. 29, 1950 E. s. clsco COUPLER OPERATING ROD BRACKET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 12, 1947 INVENTOR. Ida/42rd a? CMCO,

Aug. 29, 1950 E. s. CISCO COUPLER OPERATING ROD BRACKET Filed March 12, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN Eda/@1116 62 660, BY

Aug. 29, 1950 E. s. CISCO' 2,520,832

' COUPLER OPERATING Ron BRACKET Filed March 12, 1947 3Q Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN TOR.

BY Ema/d5 C4500,

Patented Aug. 29, 1950 COUPIIEROPER'ATING ROD BRACKET Edward S. Cisco, Highland, Ind., :assignor :to Standard Railway Equipment .Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Applieatiun'MarehlZ, 1947,'Serial"N'o. 734,282

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to railway car coupler operating 'mechanisms which are operable :by a trainman from the side of .a railway car, and theprincipalobj ect-of the invention is to provide a bracket for the operating rod "of such mechani-sms having novel features 'and characteristics which secure the 'rod to said bracket in operative position, :yet permits easy removal thereof when required.

.Another object-of the invention is to form the bracket of two parts, one having a pair'of-spaced arms-defining a notch adapted to normally nonrotatably support a non-circular iportion of-a car coupler operating rod therein, one ofsaid arms being formed with a :hook and the other with a shoulder, and the other part having one end engageable with said hook and the'other end-engageable with said shoulder, thereby spanning the space between said arms, closing the notch, and retaining said operating r d therein, when desired.

Also it is an object of the invention -to position said other part so that it normally restricts the manual rotation of an operating and when supported in said bracket.

It is a further object of the invention t construct the strap portion of the bracket so that when applied to the spaced arms of the other part-of the bracket a-zbrace is provided to prevent collapsing-of said arms -toward each other.

A further object of the invention is to "provide a two-part bracket so constructed and arranged that said parts are readily separable manually, yet practically inseparable aacoidentally even if the means to secure the parts together is lost orhas not beenapplied.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved two-piece coupler operating rod'brackettand :rod as it would appear attached to the end-of a car.

Figure 2 is a sideelevation of Figure :1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section on line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a plan view of Figure 4.

Figures 6 and 7 show a modified construction.

Figures 8, 9 and 10 show another modified construction.

In the drawings 1 indicates 'an operating :rod foran Association of American Railroads Standard E Coupler, which rod is provided at lits outer end with a depending handle portion 2 andiat its inner end with a hook portion 3 adapted for connection with an eye 4 of the lock lifter 5, pivotally connected at one end, .as at ;'5, im th .2 link 1 which lifts "the .lock of'the coupler 8 upon rotation'of saidirod. Adjacent the handle portion 2, the rodv'is supported '"bya bracket adapted for connection'to the end of the carnear' the side thereof.

The bracket :for the rod comprises a supporting :plate 41! provided withspaced holes through which attaching imeans, such as the rivets 1'3, may secure the bracket to the end oi the car. Plate l l is'bent, as at M, at-slightly more than a right :angle forming a flange portion l'5. Flange portion 1'5 .is formed with 'apair of spaced arms ts and H defining an irregularly shaped notch 1'8 therein. -The notch is countersunk upon opposite sides-of flange l'5- 'sothat whenan operating rod is supported therein it may have a substantial "pivotal or angular movement therein due to movement of the coupler -longitudinally of the car. The lower or bottom portion of thenotch'is restricted, having outwardly diverging sides, one side beinglonger than the other, so that 'whena substantially similarly formed section l9 of an operating 'rod rests therein (which is the normal position of said rod) the rod will besubs'tantially prevented-from accidental rotation due to service movements of the carsu'flicient tooperate the coupler. A hump 20 :is located in the longer side of said notch above the rod when in its normal position so-as to prevent jumping of said, rod due to service movements of the car. The upper portion of the other shorter side of said notch is provided with an ar-cuate portion 21 which is below the axis of rotation of said operating rod so that when said rod is rotated anti-clockwise "the rod will roll and slide upon said arcuate portion out of said restricted portion into the upper larger part of the notch. :slightly more than a ninety degree rotation of the rod is sufficient to operate the coupler. The successive movement of the rod out of therestrictionis indicated by the dotted lines, Figure 4.

The free end of arm is is formed into hook shape'25, whereas the free-end of the other arm I! is reduced 'in'-width,:as amt, providing shoulders 21-21, and, spaced above said shoulders 2! throughthenarrow portion Z6 is provided a hole 28.

A link strap 30 is provided, it being a substantially flat :rectangularly shaped piece of metal having a pairof medially aligned spaced rectangular-openings 3| and 32 th'erethr'ough. Opening 3l of said-link is designed to pivotally engage the hook portion 2 5, "andopening-M is designed to slip over portion 126 and rest upon shoulders 2'! of arm IT. A cotter pin 33 is inserted through hole 28 above link strap 30 to hold the same in position, and permit ready removal of the rod when desired.

The under surface of the link strap between the arms l6 and I1 may be formed so as to provide a curved surface 34 so as to limit the rotation of the rod and thereby prevent the rod from becoming bound between opposite walls of the notch, and so that when released by the operator, the rod will return by gravity to normal position.

It will be noted that the link 3!] whenin posiwardly tapering sides to normally prevent rotation of an operating rod when mounted between I said sides due to the service movements of the tion across the upper portions of arms; and l! r not only prevents the rod from jumping out of the notch, but also holds the two said arms from being spread or coming together; that maintains the arms in operative position relative to the rod. 1

In the modification shown in Figures 6 and '7,

the bracket is substantially identical with that shown in Figure ,4, with the exception that the hook 40 located at the free end of arm 16 faces the notch 18, and has a restricted opening indicated at 4|. The link 42 of this modification is identical with link 30 of the formerly described modification except that one end portion 43 of said link 42, which pivotally engages said hook 40, is semi-cylindrical. The radius of said semicylindrical portion is slightly less than the width 1 of the restricted opening 4| so that when said link is rotated to about half opened position, as shown in dotted lines at 42', the semi-cylindrical portion 43 is in position to be slid laterally through said restricted portion 4! when it is desired to remove the link from the bracket.

The hook portion 40 is reduced in width so that it will project through opening 44 Of the link 42 when said link is rotated about portion 43 thereof. The juncture of the hook portion 40 with the remainder of th bracket forms shoulders 45 at opposite sides of said hook portion so that when said link 42 is rotated to its fully opened position, shown in dotted lines at 42", it will bear against said shoulders 45 and there remain by gravity as in rotating it past dead center. When in normal position, as shown in full lines, cotter 33 maintains the link in position across arms I 6 and H.

In the modification shown in Figure 8 the link 50 is identical with link 42 excepting that the pintle portion across the end of the link is slotted, as at 52, to communicate with opening 53, and-the adjacent ends of said pintle 5! are of semi-cylindrical form and together function similarly to the portion 43 of link 42.

In the modification shown in Figures 9 and the link 55 is identical with link 50 and the material on opposite sides of the opening 56 (the link being a forging) is malleable enough to permit opening and closing, as clearly suggested by dotted lines at 51, Figure 9.

The bracket 51 for this link 55 has a round hole 58 tln'ough the narrow portion 4!] of part it and the meeting edges of pintle portions 58 of I the link are cylindrical so that when pressed together during assembly they will center opposite sides of hole 58 and form a journal therein to pivotally support the link.

Certain features shown but not claimed herein are shown and claimed in co-pending application Serial No. 652,653, filed March 7, 1946, now abandoned and owned by the same assignee to which this application will be assigned.

. The accompanying drawings illustrate the pre-,

car, one of said sides being shorter than the other and provided with a bearing surface for an operating rod and the other of said sides being longer and of such contour in relation to the shorter side as to provide a guiding surface to cause an operating rod when manually rotated to roll and slide upon said bearing surface from between said sides, one of said arms provided with a hook and the other of said arms having a reduced portion providing shoulders on opposite sides thereof, an aperture through said reduced portion spaced from said shoulders, and a link strap, one end of which is provided with an opening to receive; said hook and the other end thereof is provided with an opening to telescopically engage the other of said arms to normally rest upon said shoulder and means cooperable with said ap rture to retain said link in place, whereby an operating rod may be removed from said bracket by removing said means and swinging said link free of the space between said arms.

2. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a car coupler upon manual rotation of said rod, said bracket comprising spaced arms defining a notch adapted to normall non-rotatively support a non-circular portion of an operating rod due to service movements of the car, one of said arms provided with a hook above said notch and the other of said arms having a shoulder and an aperture spaced therefrom above said notch, a strap, one end of which is provided with an opening to hing'edly engage said hook and the other end of which is provided with an opening to telescopically engage the other of said arms and normally rest upon said shoulder, and means cooperative with said aperture to retain said strap in place, whereby upon removal of said means said. strap may be swung sufliciently to permit the removal of said operating rod.

3. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a car coupler upon manual rotation of said rod, said bracket comprising spaced arms defining a, notch adapted to normally non-rotatively support a, non-circular portion of an operating rod, one of said arms provided with a hook above said notch, a strap having an opening at one end which is hingedly engageable with said hook and an opening at the other end which is telescopically engageable with the other of said arms, and means cooperative with said other arm to retain said strap in place, whereby upon removal of said means said strap may be swung suniciently to permit the removal of said operating rod.

4. A structure substantially as set forth in claim 3 wherein said strap is positioned normally to limit the manual rotation of an operating red when supported in said bracket so that said operating rod will return to engagement with said notch when free to do so.

"5. A structure substantially as set forth in claim 3 wherein said strap is provided with a 5 portion adapted to be deformed to hingedly engage said hook.

6. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a car coupler upon manual rotation of said rod, said bracket comprising spaced arms defining a notch adapted to support a portion of said rod therebetween, one of said arms provided with :a hook portion above said notch, a strap portion having means at one end to hingedly engage said, hook portion, and

an opening at the other end which is telescopically engageable with the other of said arms, and removable means cooperative with the other arm to retain the strap in place, whereby upon removal of said means said strap may be swung sufficiently to permit removal of said operating rod.

'7. A supporting bracket for an operating rod adapted to operate a car coupler upon rotation of said rod, said bracket comprising spaced arms defining a notch therebetween to rotatively support a portion of said operating red, one of said arms provided with a hook above said notch and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 983,773 Scherer Feb. 7, 1911 1,123,209 Schmidt Dec. 29, 1914 2,356,336 Metzger Aug. 22, 1944 2,409,322 Swann Oct. 15, 1946 

